Ben Ponzio is a professional poker player. He was born in 1975, currently resides in Elmwood Park, IL, United States. Now he is married and has a daughter. His passion in poker was born when he was a little kid. Although his job and his family are priorities, he has always tried in his free time to play at any poker tournament. In Ben Ponzio’s professional experience there are 5 cashes and total winnings of $635,243.
Ben has played poker his whole life – ever since he was a teenager. But he started participating in larger tournaments only a couple of years ago. His first victory Ben Ponzio reached on June 15, 2007 at the 38th Annual World Series of Poker, where he won his first bracelet and earned $599,109. And even though this was the first time he faced such famous players and had to play against them, he stayed entirely calm during the whole game. Of course that’s no surprise – he worked in a radio at that time, so he had been around big-name radio guys and celebrities for years, so he felt comfortable in that kind of situations. This was the third tournament for the year and made the best strike. In 2007 he also has another top score at the Caesars Indian WSOP Circuit Event, where he finished 4th with prize of $4,516.
Everybody knows that when things get to the final table, players get rather aggressive. But that’s not the case with Ben Ponzio. He had played a lot of tournaments in Chicago, underground, and he has had a lot of experience at final tables where there are players like that. So being calm and cool seems to be like the right move. He doesn’t really watch many poker games on TV. Instead he reads a lot of books and has gotten some advice from professionals who had seen him play.
On June 15, 2007 at the 39th World Series of Poker 2008 Event 40, he made it to the final table finished at 5th place and $28,738. His big ambition is to legalize the poker in Illinois and open a poker room. His free time he likes spending with his daughter, watching football.
Ben Ponzio has a big respect of one poker player – Phil Gordon and what he does with Put a Bad Beat on cancer.
Ben Ponzio likes playing poker a lot, but is certainly not going to turn it into a way of life. He likes his job, but still intends to keep participating in tournaments. As of 2008 his total tournament winnings exceed $600,000.
